1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to providing a sensor to provide deterrence against the theft of display merchandise and particularly to a sensor which can be integrated into an overall anti-theft detection system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hard goods thievery of items such as computers, television sets, typewriters, microwaves, and refrigerators, as examples is an increasing problem that every merchandise business runs into. Such hard goods can range from small easily portable goods to the heavier goods, such as refrigerators. In order to promote sales to the buying public, the merchandise must be displayed and as is the case with computers and typewriters, the display must also be such that the buying public can actually handle the items. Those items such as television sets, radios, video tape recorders, video cameras, cameras, computers, hand held electronic entertainment devices, and so forth, are particularly susceptible to thievery. A number of concepts have been designed and formulated to provide means to minimize thievery of such items. Examples of such are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,069,919, to Fernbaugh, 3,905,103 to Fernbaugh, 3,972,039 to Marshal, 3,596,265 to Garland, 3,253,270 to Downer, 2,913,712 to Lee, 3,127,597 to Lewin, and 4,000,588 to Ephraim. Are as yet non-patented concept design to be applied in such applications is also represented by U.S. application Ser. No. 06/401,630 by Kane. Each of these concepts has been suggested for use in the commercial applications area and the latter Kane concept has been used extensively in major department stores in the United States.
The Fernbaugh system utilizes a flexible cable with a single electrical conductor in such cable and the cable is passed through soft goods or hard goods to provide protection against thievery. The Fernbaugh concept requires such flexible cables to be connected into an interlocking method, wherein the flexible cable is locked in place and its electrical circuit completed. This system is inflexible in that the merchandise must remain close to the locking cable member. Furthermore, the circuit in the flexible cable member can be fooled by the use of jumper pans and clamps allowing the flexible member to be severed to remove the merchandise without triggering an associated alarm means. A more sophisticated system and apparatus is represented by the Marshal system, which employs a three wire alarm system cabling network, in conjunction with a mechanically actuated switching sensor that is placed on the hard goods to be protected. The Marshal system provides an alarm signal if the employed cabling is disconnected, or if the hard goods sensor is removed from the hard goods, thereby activating a switching circuit in the alarm means. The three wire Marshal system virtually eliminates the ability of the thief to accurately and instantaneously jumper the circuit in such a way that the alarm is not set off. The Marshal system hard goods sensor can be fooled by slipping a knife or other thin object under the hard goods sensor and thereby maintain the switch in the sensor in the activated position. A disturbance in the Marshal system would therefore go undetected. The Garland patent concept utilizes various flexible loops with two conductors in the flexible loop and a mechanical means at the end of the loops to secure the loops to the merchandise, which is to be protected against theft. The loops are plugged into a centralized alarm system. The Garland concept requires the merchandise to be within the length of any of the loops, which are connected to the plug in means for the alarm system, and as such the Garland system is not extendable away from the alarm system. Many items of merchandise therefore require many different loops.
The Downer patent similarly requires a single loop for each item of merchandise as does the Garland patent.
The Lee patent utilizes a single conductor and does allow for extending such a conductor to many pieces of merchandise; however, the Lee patent is susceptible to the use of circuit jumpers, which allow the conductor to be broken by the thief, without setting off associated alarm circuits.
The Cohen patent utilizes a pre-cut adhesively bonded thin film foil for use on glass entry ways to foil the entry of burgulars into business establishments. This thin film foil by itself cannot be practically used on most merchandise to prevent thievery.
The Lewin, et al., patent was developed to provide protection against thievery of electrical devices such as tools and household appliances. The Lewin alarm system is dependant upon an actual withdraw of a power cord plug from a specially designed plug socket, which is internally triggered to signal that a theft is occurring.
In the Ephraim patent a three way flexible cable is connected to a flexible label patch, which contains an etched or printed circuit on the patch, which in turn is adhesively pressed onto the merchandise to be protected. The actual sensing element contains the etched or printed circuit and is destructable and must be replaced after being removed or torn from the merchandise. An examination of the Ephraim circuit reveals that such circuit can be jumpered to provide apparent circuit continuity, and thus allow thievery to take place of the goods to be removed.
The present invention provides protection from tampering with the cables by the use of a two circuit sheath cable and center conductor, which is connected to the sensor itself. Any attempted tampering of the two circuit; sheath cable and center conductor, triggers a suitable alarm means as does any tampering with the sensor itself. As a result the two circuit; sheath cable and center conductor becomes an integral part of the sensor. The sensor concept of the present invention is easily extendable to numerous items of merchandise by simple extension of the use of the two circuit; sheath cable and center conductor. The present invention utilizes no thin film foils such as the Cohen patent teaches or that art taught in the Kane application, nor does the present application require any specially designed plug sockets for signaling that a theft is occurring, such as required by the Lewin patent. When compared to the Ephraim patent, the present invention is found to provide a totally rearmable and reuseable sensor concept. As such, the present application provides a device which is able to provide display merchandise security with a flexibility for broad use. The present invention also provides an inexpensive capital outline and a simplicity which lends itself to ease of installment and maintenance by store personnel. It has been found that if such simplicity is not present, that store personnel simply will not continue to use an anti-theft system to prevent thievery. Public display of merchandise is important to overall sales and the present concept allows the customer public to examine merchandise. Any anti-theft sensor system must not be susceptible to false alarm, since this will also aggrevate both store personnel and the buying public. The present invention provides a very simple means of resetting, should inadvertant alarming occur. And most importantly, the present invention provides a most positive alarm signal means in a manner desired by the business management. The present merchandise theft deterrent sensor also provides a means for being expandable or contractable to many or few items of merchandise and as such has no limitations on the number of items that can be protected.